A hotel practice that has to stop

A few years back I was passing through Te Anau in the down season and ended up deciding to stay for a couple of nights.

I popped into a lakeside establishment to enquire about a room.

Upon securing a room I went to check it out - I was surprised to find myself at the very back corner of the property. Didn't look too full to me?

The room wasn't cleaned properly or at all so I asked to swap rooms.

They then put me up front (near the lake) - wandering past all the rooms late at night they were all empty. What?!? This left me bewildered.

If you had nicer rooms why didn't you give me one of them? They are exactly the same rate per night.

It wasn't till a few months later I was reading an independent travelers guide. Turns out it is common industry practice to give the worst room to walk-in guests. (Travel tip: never accept the first room they offer).

I am sure there are many reasons behind it but to be honest I don't really care. If you have a walk-in and rooms are available - give them the best damn room you can.

Hell if the best room is empty, upgrade them! Even better have every room as good as one another (same with Restaurants and tables?!?).

You need to obsess about each and every visitor. They may only visit once but for every person they tell about their trip or provide tips to a friend heading the same way, you want them to recommend you over and over again.

If you impress them you might get decades of referrals - what better way to build a solid business.

Makes complete sense to me.

* Ben Young from bwagy is the author of the upcoming book The Best Ideas are Free.